A cheerful thread for Christmas! Do you agree that women do have some natural advantages?

[CarolinePooter]

Apart from the obvious ability to continue the human race, of course.

I believe that the female sense of smell is pretty unbeatable. I can detect ridiculously faint traces of odours, damp etc. No fear of milk going off in this house. Blindfold, I could tell my children apart by their smell alone, even into adulthood. They smell nice, but different, to me. I think females have good survival skills, and this is one of them.

Anything else we should celebrate?

We experience fewer conditions linked to genes because we have two X chromosomes. A defective gene on one X chromosome is cancelled out by a good equivalent gene on the other X chromosome. Colour blindness is one example.

I read a book about a group of people who survived in open boats. In famine/disaster situations the short, fat women live longest.

Yay! I'm going to live for EVAH!!!

Based on a very small (and statistically unrepresentative) sample, women are better than men at wrapping presents.

Don't women keep warmer? And survive longer in the cold because of it?
Based on my observations of open water swimmers, and winter swimmers without wetsuits in particular, those of us with more body fat tend to do better in the cold. And we do tend more towards being older women.

We may just be tougher up north, mind

I refute the smell thing. Permanent dust allergy means I'm both massively oversensitive to irritating perfumes and also rubbish at smelling things. I like a lot of spices in my food!

Women on the whole don't tend to go bald
They can wear just about anything they want-skirts, dresses, trousers, trainers, heels
They can wear make up, or not as it suits them

And when women do go bald they have the option of staying bald and being bold and brave or wearing a wig, headwrap, turban or hat with no adverse comments.

Don't women have better stamina and outperform men in extreme distance events in running and swimming? Think that's true.

Re better sense of smell I have twice detected very dodgy electrical fittings by noticing that odd fishy smell they produce when no-one else noticed.

The second time I was poo-pooed by all concerned except the electrician I called out. He said there was a very good chance of fire breaking out if I hadn't called him.

Beamur I would back up your wrapping presents statistics.

Bring on the zombie apocalypse.....

We're less likely to be colour blind as it's carried on the sex determining chromosome X. Women always have a back up X so both X's need to have the defective gene. Men don't have a spare X so there you go.
Incidentally, you can stain a sample of cheek cells and you can see the inactive X. It's called a Barr body.
Also we can conceive and bear children.

Our mitochondrial DNA has been passed on from mother to daughter right back to the dawn of time. I find that quite awe inspiring.

I've always thought women look aesthetically far more beautiful than men look. Women simply are more visually pleasing to the eye.

I fancy men. I love men, but I am attracted to what they say, their attitude, personality traits, voice, more than their looks. I don't often find men or their bits that nice looking. Obviously the men I fancy I find nice looking.

I love being a woman for many reasons, a sense of sisterhood being one.

I have to question 'women are more pleasing to the eye', though - see 'the male gaze' and much Greek art, for reference. Without getting into sexual attractiveness at all, either - our aesthetic preferences are heavily culturally conditioned - currently a woman's figure/form is lauded as 'beautiful', but I find both men and women beautiful in their own ways (I'm an artist and this discussion comes up every so often when teaching life drawing). We maybe find it easier to look at women because they are so often held up as 'beautiful' and associated with 'beauty'. Greer is good on the beauty of men, too.

detected very dodgy electrical fittings by noticing that odd fishy smell they produce when no-one else noticed.

I had the same thing happen - fuse in my shower burnt out & it smelled like fish gone off. Took me a while to realise what it was as was convinced my teen had left food to rot (but couldn't find it) & the plumber was quite surprised I guessed it was the fuse.

'Tis truly my super power 💪😁